I think we've adequately established that IC romantic relationships are a minefield, some people take rivalries personally, and an OOC agreement that your characters will be friends/siblings/whatever does not always translate IC the way everyone means it. And that a lot of us just improvise.

What does it mean to improvise, though?

For me it's more or less a case of finding a hook in the other character and running with it. For example, in Man Cubs, my character and Peng's character were never fated to cross paths much at all. I don't think our Fates coincided at all, in fact. But he was playing the oldest boy, and I was playing the youngest girl, so it seemed to make sense that they'd have a big brother/little sister dynamic going on. (And then of course they both got owned in the opening chapter, which added a delicious underscore to the whole thing.)

... Damn, now I want to play in Man Cubs again.

Anyway, that's my approach- find a hook, run with it, and sometimes the other player runs along with you.

By the way the queue is empty ... anyone have suggestions for our next topic?

Well, I've sort of got something that's of perennial interest to me: balancing roleplaying and DRL. How often do you like to update? Do you make time for roleplaying, or do you use it to kill time? How many games do you like to be active in at a given time? Stuff like that.

I have another suggestion. Maybe a little less discussing and a bit more showcasing could help? Our favourte character not played by ourselves. Why did we dig those players doing those characters, what was good when they played them? How did I actually got to recognize them?

Hm, I like that showcasing idea! Let's do that first to get a break from discussions (I think that's a good idea, considering) - and then in future maybe I can do a Character of the Week thing here like Wing's doing with the Game Group, too. See how that works out.

The Queue:
1. What is your favourite character played by someone else?
2. Balancing roleplaying and DRL.
3.

This can be any character, played at any point in time, played by anyone who is not you. Feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you feel like. Link to the game if it still exists. Whatever. Go nuts, guys. />

Okay, this is a tough one. Really, really is. when I saw the topic I came up with a lot of ideas and possible candidates and then suddenly I realized I had to choose between them. In my years around here I had the pleasure to play with a lot of great players and many of them created unique characters. Generally there are those characters that touch you and those who donÂ´t. Those you read (a few) and those you donÂ´t (many, many more). Some players do not lurk, I heard. It is a limitation to yourself, that will always keep you down. Because through other characters you really experience stories, i always felt.

but even among those I read there are a few I read with a passion. Those are rare, but sometimes characters are so amazingly crafted, played and so deep they rival any written character in a novel and yet are so much more relevant and familiar to you as a fellow players. Those havenÂ´t been more than four, perhaps five in my days here. Choosing between them seemed unfair and utterly impossible. I considered using a dice. The list was short and my patience limited. but then I realized one stood out even among those exalted candidates. One surpassed all others for me, not only because the craft that went into the creation and the amazing level of writing that assured the success of that character. No, that character had the unique ability to not only make break-out impression on others and inspire them in their own stories. Ths character made games!

Of course I talk about SirakRomarÂ´sKira Kara Romar. The character was originally created for 128 ABY - The Sith-Imperial War - Turning Point by Sinrebirth, where she gained great prominence through her rivalry with DarklordoftheFins Eydan Skorne, which came to an end in a spectacular finale over Bastion. The character was revisited in the sequel128 ABY - The Sith-Imperial War - The Collapsing Galaxy and for a final time in 133 ABY - The Dark Odyssey both GMed by Fin, where Kira finally had a worthy finale and found closure. You could make an argument she was the secret protagonist of all three of those games. SirakRomar announced at the end of 133 ABY - The Dark Odyssey to lay her to rest now and not reprise her again. A wise decision, as she had delivered a perfect run with the character, not having any bad scenes or posts, but always delivering an amazing portray of a Jedi so complex and deep, a lot of guys at LucasArts should be ashamed of the rubbish they publish, compared to her.

There was planned cameo in 129 ABY. but I am actually happy she never came back. There was nothing to tell anymore. She was complete. that is something a lot of people say very often about her, I realize. She was complete.

So why her? There are a few things, that were incredible attractive about her. As a character and as a young woman. Actually Fin told me he had a dozen (A DOZEN!) players who suggested romantic interest in her. GMs and even her own brother seemed to dig that vulnerable, suffering woman who held such great power and yet wanted only peace. A reluctant Swordswoman, as a fanfic about her was called. I am pretty sure that sprintABM gave her that name once. And it worked. Did he ever meet her? No. She did that to people. He read a post about her and then linked his character to her. The same did several other players. And sooner than Sirak knew sh

Well, LordT I must admit I did not know you were one of her worshippers, but you totally nailÂ´d what made Kira Kara Romar such an outstanding character. She would certainly be my favourite (although I will soon write about her in a different contaxt anyway), but now that you covered her, I can turn to the torturing question who of my many favourities IÂ´d pick next.

Well, well.

I wonÂ´t pick any SotS character, methinks. They are all in progress of dropped by their player. Really, really not a good idea to talk about character still alive and well. So that leaves only a considerable pool of characters to choose from. Since 07 I saw a character here and there. And many left me deeply impressed. I am afraid I donÂ´t have the time to mention them all and I fear IÂ´d miss too many. So who do I pick? LordtÂ´s many villains would be the easy way out. Who doubts their brilliance? Or any of those award winning people who I voted for. But I really want to highlight the one that kept coming back to me in time. And who never got appreciated enough for her performance.

My favourite character of all times? At least a very close contender for that title would be . . .

sprintABMÂ´sRatep Sentarin

Funny enough he got a fleeting mention above and hell I wished I had the time to research him as deep as LordT did Kira, but you have to say I am in the disadvantage. Until today the brilliance of many characters is quoted and spread and there are link collections at various places. But Ratep got somehow forgotten. He is overlooked.

Ratep came into existence in the very first wave of approvals in the 128 ABY - The Sith Imperial War - Turning Point game. He was a Vaapad using Jedi Master with an attitude. A bit of a Mace Windu light. On paper he simply did not look very impressive. The hard boiled Jedi with great lightsaber skills, right? Yeah, sure. But sprintABM somehow hit a chord when he played him. How this man was doubted to the point of despise by his borthers and yet loyal to a painful degree to Kol Skywalker. How trust and friendship was between them and concern for the other. The memories of his former Padawan running to join the IKs were still there. And in a few well written flashbacks we slowly unfolded their last and great confrontation. We finally saw how he got so bitter, so hurt. And the scent of darkness was all around him, but he tried to counter it with . . . military discipline.

Ratep got my attention when he suddenly connected to our plot in the scene above, that LordT described. He dubbed SirakÂ´s character with her nickname. I always hoped he would join our ride. He never did. But I kept on reading him. The Battle of Taris, how he sliced through Imperials and challenged IKs. He was confident in battle and yet always on the edge. Always a bit too radical for a Jedi. Not darkside radical. Just so you felt a bit uneasy. Just so he felt a bit uneasy afterwards. The character. I slowly began to get it. He teamed up with another Jedi - a Barabel - and they soon began to look for new adventures. I followed them every step. From the infiltration and hunt for intelligence, to his meeting with Kol and the discussion if he was ready to face his former student, if he should turn up with the IKs. At that point I decided to contact him. I never do that usually. Attach myself to other peopleÂ´s stories! But I did here. His student? Would he mind me playing him?

And so we found Hespar Kesslar. IK and former Jedi. Friend, foe, rival and painful reminder of failure to his former Master Ratep Sentarin. God, we had fun. Hespar was nice to play, anyway. big battles with Yuuzhan Vong, but nothing was quite like it when I faced my old Master and Ratep Sentarin, the killing machine . . . really gave up and handed me his saber. It was such a strong character moment. And suddenly my Hespar, still loving him like a father, did all he could to protect him from our new Sith allies. I helped them flee, in the end. I helped them get away and betrayed my Emperor. What a cliffhanger! One we never resolved, regrettably. The ch

Something more productive from me, soon. I might actually pick a GM character, because I think it was my favourite . . . but IÂ´ll give myself a bit longer to think about it. And I will be a German who doesnÂ´t pick something from ABYverse, I think.

Haha, I remember Kira Romar from Sarge's many rantings and wibblings about The Shadow War. She's an impressive character, that one, and I've always loved the Man Cubs cameo at the end of that post.

Anyway, it's also a difficult choice for me, but I'd say my favourite character is Livi-Wan's Skadi, a cleric of Tyr in Tide of Flames.

I think what I like most about her is that there are so many ways to play this concept badly, but Livi manages to do so in a way that is simultaneously hilarious, interesting, realistic, and completely true to type.

Rather than play a redemption story, Livi's chosen to make Skadi the result of one. She's a cleric with a flavourful past: she ran away from home, became a pirate captain, did a lot of Bad Things before she was redeemed by a priest of Tyr. And then, having crafted that lovely backstory, it never turns up! Skadi never thinks about it, save for that Pirates of the Caribbean-esque dream sequence where her crew shows up to save everyone. (Livi is definitely showing more restraint than I would be here, because if my character used to be a pirate, nobody would ever hear the end of it.)

Rather than go on and on about how badass she is (as LordT observed, a lot of us do that), Skadi never mentions it and simply seems to ooze badassery. Part of it is D&D mechanics, but a big chunk of it is the way she's written. She's one of those characters (and Livi is one of those writers) who can pull off Show, Don't Tell in such an excellent way.

Skadi is also the party moral compass, and she's not afraid to put her foot down and take the high road even if it means not doing the most efficient thing. That tends to come up often due to the contrast between Skadi and the rest of the party, who are all (bar the other cleric who is now a NPC) all crazy not-good people who just wanna stab things or cut corners in the name of expediency. In fact, she's just not afraid to put her foot down in general. One of my favourite moments in ToF was when she absolutely chewed out the other cleric in the party for suggesting a plan that involved him (the party healer and definitely not a stealthy person) sneaking behind enemy lines to assassinate an enemy. She's done that since, I'm sure, but that's the one that sticks in my mind.

Beyond that, Skadi simply has character. She seems real in a way not all characters do. Many characters are caricatures of a type, or so clearly a Player Avatar it barely counts as a character, or otherwise just don't feel like they could be real people. Skadi does.

This is something that can be done badly, but it's somehow never annoying, always in character, and Skadi always persists on attempting to be a good influence upon the others. The character has character, which is rare; and she's earned the respect of other characters, which is also rare.

The last reason I like Skadi is purely selfish. Because I know she's our moral compass, I can play my rogue Corrath in any way I like, because I know she will balk at anything too evil. It's great.

D'aawwww, Xany You're makin' me blush over here! Skadi has had the opportunity to evolve into what she is thanks to long-term interaction with wonderful players like yourself- Corrath, lest any of you have any doubts about Xany's prowess- is as real and complete a character as you'd ever hope to meet. She's practical and matter-of-fact and an absolute joy to bounce off of. She and Skadi might differ on moral matters, but they work together as teammmates because Corrath is played as complex enough to put aside her compulsive need to acquire shiny objects for the good of the party. Xany knows when to put her character to the fore and also when she's not the star of the show, which is important- a lot of players can be very ME ME ME (I know I can be guilty of this) and what I love is how Corrath works in both contexts.

Also she put up magnificently with the Racist Swamp Elves curveball, which pretty much earned my undying respect

Honourable mention: ramza's Evelios, for commitment to (and fairly convincing portrayal of) a character that is absolutely barking mad. And for breaking my heart during the last phase of the dream sequence.

Rather than go on and on about how badass she is (as LordT observed, a lot of us do that), Skadi never mentions it and simply seems to ooze badassery. Part of it is D&D mechanics

For those who don't play D&D, Skadi is the most mechanically powerful character on the team (William is a close 2nd, Zanaek is technically third). She slices, dices, heals, smites, and buffs and while others might be able to put out more hurting on a short notice, Skadi is a pain train that keeps on rolling, and is guaranteed to be the last one standing in any fight, with her sword lodged in someone else.

Let's just quickly go forth to the New Topic: Balancing roleplaying and DRL. How often do you like to update? Do you make time for roleplaying, or do you use it to kill time? How many games do you like to be active in at a given time? Stuff like that.

Well, for me it is like watching TV. It depends what is on. If no game really "got me" (I suffered from this 2010 pretty much, which was entirely my fault not the games. Burnout.) I just post to kill time, usually donÂ´t read any of it excpet my posts relevant stuff.

When a game sets me on fire I actually try and update frequently and read in it and I make time for it, because I enjoy it that much.

Then there is the third stage. Creative meltdown. It happens not too often, but I then sneak in at work or via my iPhone to read updates and if nothing new happens I reread favourite scenes from the game to keep myself attached. That is very rare and can only happen from time to time, as it would otherwise be to exhausting.

Ah balance this is the really hard question since some us have jobs and other commitments balance is key. One of the way I found helpful is to know when I have enough to time to post and write what I want to and get my thoughts down. Balancing has never been easy but I always try to read the forum at least.

Oh thatÂ´s easy. I GM at certain times a week, but as this is about playing . . . I RP when I find time. Breaks, coffeeÂ´s after coming home and not being tired. Whenever I feel like it, basically. But I write myu updates fast, so that is never a big time issue.

I try to update as soon as I see myself tagged, preferably the same day or next day, unless I have University work due or DRL.
I feel bad if I leave it longer. I check the forum at least once a day- I get a little kick of excitement every time I find a tag to respond to.

I thought of a topic to add, but it's too simular to one that was discussed earlier.

Sounds like the consensus is mostly that we just find time to RP, somehow. Haha. I guess that's fair. That's pretty much what I do as well - it just slots in somehow, except for times when there just aren't slots.

So! New topic time!

Let's do another showcase, shall we?

Showcase: Your First Ever Character

Tell us about the first character you ever played. It doesn't have to be the first character you played here - I know we have quite a number of folks who RPed elsewhere before finding their way to our lovely shores. What game was it in? What was the character like? What were your posts like? If you were to do it over today, would you do things differently? How would you do things differently?

So, IÂ´ll assume we talk about Post-by-Post playing. Because that is hard enough to remember. I did pen&paper all my life and I could not remember what my first gamer was like if my life depended on it, really.

Okay. Okay. Oh, IÂ´d love to start with my SW character from The "Imperiales Zentrum", our former German site and how silly my first attempts were and how totally stupid my first post was. But how awesome this turned out and how I am still draining from it until today.

But that is not true. So IÂ´ll tell you what my first real character was I ever played in a Post-by-Post RP. It was a stormtrooper. A Republic stormtrooper, who fought in the Clone Wars. No, not a Clone Trooper, not a Clone at all. We did not know back then that the Clone Wars had droids and clones on the two sides. We assumed both sides were cloning. We also assumed the Empire was party of that war and actually won. We assumed they killed the Jedi with Darth Vader betraying them and then the Republic and the Empire somehow merged. That was what everybody did before TPM and the EU. So we had that game based on d& SW by West End Game and the roles were givn away by a lottery. One got the Jedi, one the Smuggler and I, I got the trooper. I remember he was from a farm-planet and he had been drafted into service, so his armor was a bit too big. I hated being that guy as he smelled like having no relevance ot the plot. Remember I was a lot younger and playing in the internet happened via 56k connections at best and was quite an effort. Well, we had a fight over our roles, as one of the players dropped out and we all wanted his . . . Jedi? think it was a Jedi . . . then we finally began playing. Something about the Jedi unable to agree on a way to react to a threat. Actually I believe the other players were pretty good. The story was a lot better than the borderline-fascism of the PT. It did not last long though and only three players were posting. And hten it was pretty quickly dead and I was invited to what would become my group (of which 30% are here today as the dread Germans).

My only scene to do with the Stormtrooper whose name is forgotten was talking to a girl who wasnÂ´t so happy about the Jedi and therefore commited an act of vandalism. My writing was terrible, but the GM saved the scene . . . well. All of this was in German of course. Unitl 2007 I never RPed in English on Paper or the Internet.

I played a dwarf fighter - Tordek, son of Tordek, of the clan Tordek (The name having come from the DnD 3rd Edition Player's Handbook). Forty-eighth of his name! He would eventually go on to become a king and then a god because, really, the DnD games my friends and I played back when we were 11 up until I moved to Arizona were just kind of like that. It eventually got to the point where we had destroyed the entirety of Toril... twice, I want to say. Airships were involved, Elminster turned out to be the greatest threat humanity had ever known and had to be defeated... like, once a campaign. And at my big going away party, one of my friends GMed instead of me, so he brought Tordek back as the final boss to end all final bosses. Probably the best level 250 encounter I ever played in.

It was a ROTS AU, where Anakin sided with Mace Windu and let him kill Palpatine. I played a Jedi Knight who fought against one of her old friends who had turned to the Dark Side, and a youngling who was chose by Anakin Skywalker as his apprentice. Didn?t go very far, but I think the Knight might?ve killed her friend, and the youngling went with Anakin to Kamino. It wasn?t anything very deep or important at all, and I?m pretty ashamed of it.

Actually, let's not, because I blocked most of the embarassing details from my mind long ago XD All I really remember is that for some stupid reason I thought it would be super original to be a 14 year old girl on the internet writing about vampires.